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Oil Pump Inlet Restrictor

All engines need oil or some type of lubricant in order to function properly and have a long service life. Oil pumps, which require an oil inlet are located on engines to keep the internal components lubricated. John Deere, a manufacturer of heavy equipment for agriculture, forestry, and construction equipment, produces engines that are subjected to all kinds of extreme conditions. The oil pumps can experience large amounts of stress due to these extreme conditions. Validation of oil pumps and pump life span are important to John Deere because it will help them increase engine service life. John Deere needed a way to perform more comprehensive testing of their oil pumps by being able to restrict oil flow, inducing stressful conditions.

The solution was the design of a quick assembly oil inlet restriction device that is extremely durable and can be controlled by John Deere’s testing equipment. The amount of restriction is controlled by a push-pull cable attached to tabs on the device. As the tabs are pulled together the holes become misaligned and the flow is restricted.

The design that has been delivered to John Deere was successful in achieving the required restriction amounts and will be able to cause significant stresses in their oil pumps. The device will aid John Deere’s exploration into oil pump life spans and failure modes under extreme conditions.